Manitoulin Ice Showdown attracts 400+ anglers

First place Lake Manitou winner Rachel Stoddart hoists her whopping 9.83 lb ling, weighed in at Sandfield at 11:34 am on Sunday.

MANITOULIN—The fishing gods must have
smiled down on the first-ever Manitoulin Ice Showdown, granting anglers weather
and fishing that will be hard to beat. Co-organizers, the Wiikwemkoong Ice
Fishing Derby (through Wikwemikong Tourism) and The Manitoulin Expositor
couldn’t be happier either as the inaugural event was, by all accounts, a
successful one. Over 150 fish were weighed at both sites, Manitowaning Bay and
Lake Manitou, with anglers jockeying for position until the last few minutes of
the derby.

At the derby social held Sunday afternoon
at Wikwemikong High School, Wiikwemkoong councillor Marcia Trudeau-Bomberry
brought greetings on behalf of chief and council and noted the new partnership
with The Expositor.

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“I hope everyone had a great time fishing
with friends and family,” Councillor Trudeau-Bomberry told the crowd of upwards
of 150 gathered in the high school cafeteria.

“Wow! What a weekend,” said an enthusiastic
Luke Wassegijig, manager at Wikwemikong Tourism. “There were tons of fish
caught.”

When asked how the crowd liked the new
two-lake format, cheers, hoots and clapping erupted from the fishermen. The
addition of Lake Manitou appeared to be well-received.

Forty fish were weighed on Manitowaning
Bay, a record for the Wiikwemkoong Ice Fishing Derby, and 115 on Lake Manitou.

“This event put bums in beds, gas in cars
and people in restaurants,” Mr. Wassegijig added. “We’re making this
Manitoulin’s premier winter event, bringing much-needed tourism dollars to
Manitoulin during the winter season.”

Mr. Wassegijig said when the idea was born
to create a new ‘super derby,’ The Expositor was immediately thought of as a
partner due to its experience with the popular Salmon Classic tournament. This
newspaper jumped on board, recognizing right away the potential and merit of
just such an event to enhance winter tourism.

Mr. Wassegijig also acknowledged the hard
work of his staff and Giselle Aiabens, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes
on the Manitoulin Ice Showdown to make it a seamless success.

Dave Patterson, representing The Expositor,
thanked Mr. Wassegijig and Wikwemikong Tourism for their hospitality and
inviting the newspaper into the fold. For its part, The Expositor was
responsible for the Lake Manitou portion of the derby, running the check-in and
weigh-in stations while Wikwemikong Tourism ran the Manitowaning Bay side of
things.

Then came the moment everyone was waiting
for: the handing out of the prizes.

On Lake Manitou, the top 10 winners are as
follows: First, Rachel Stoddart with a 9.83 lb ling weighed in at Sandfield at
11:34 am on Sunday; second, Joseph Anselmo with a 9.4 lb ling weighed in at
Holiday Haven Road at 9:04 am on Sunday; third, Cody Leeson with a 9.33 lb ling
weighed in at Sandfield at 1:32 pm on Saturday; fourth, Robert James with an
8.85 lb lake trout weighed in at Sandfield at 9:21 am on Sunday; fifth, Melanie
Holmes with an 8.71 lb lake trout weighed in at Holiday Haven Road at 8:43 am
on Saturday; sixth, Tanya Connell with an 8.7 lb lake trout weighed in at
Scotch Line Road at 9:24 am Saturday; seventh, Nick Holmes with an 8.06 lb lake
trout weighed in at Holiday Haven Road at 12:18 pm on Sunday; eighth, Jeff
Bailey with an 8.03 lb lake trout weighed in at Scotch Line Road at 8:32 am on
Saturday; ninth, Rob Sheppard with an 8 lb lake trout weighed in at Scotch Line
Road at 11:16 am on Sunday; and tenth, Andrew Graham with a 7.97 lb lake trout
weighed in at Sandfield at 10:45 am on Sunday.

The target weight for Lake Manitou, 6.4
lbs, was announced at the derby’s start. By 9:30 am Cody Hunter brought a lake
trout in for weighing to Sandfield, gaining him a cool $5,000 for hitting that
weight right to the decimal point.

On Manitowaning Bay, the top 10 winners
are: First, Joshua Bisson with 11.6 lb rainbow trout weighed in at Bayside
Resort at 8:15 am on Saturday; second, Georgina Recollet with 9.8 lb pike
weighed in at Buzwah Fisheries at 10:40 am Saturday; third, Brody Burns with
9.33 lb rainbow trout weighed in at Manitowaning Marina at 3:32 pm on Saturday;
fourth, Mike Lamb with 8.07 lb rainbow trout weighed in at Buzwah Fisheries at
9 am on Sunday; fifth, Ron Labre with 7.18 lb rainbow trout weighed in at
Buzwah Fisheries at 10:02 am on Sunday; sixth, Bret Varey with 5.99 lb rainbow
trout weighed in at Buzwah Fisheries at 8:42 am on Saturday; seventh, Terry Kay
with a 5.94 lb rainbow trout weighed in at Buzwah Fisheries at 11:14 am on
Saturday; eighth, Galen Trudeau of 26 Adventures with a 5.83 lb rainbow trout
weighed in at Buzwah Fisheries at 10:37 am on Saturday; ninth, John Trainer
with a 5.83 lb rainbow trout weighed in at Buzwah Fisheries at 10:34 am on
Sunday; and tenth, Lukus Arnold with a 5.55 lb rainbow trout weighed in at
Manitowaning Marina at 3:52 pm on Saturday.

Not only did Mr. Bisson have the first
Manitowaning Bay fish of the derby, he also claimed the top prize and the top
trout for both lakes, earning him the Pimp’d Hut which came overflowing with
goodies to the tune of $10,000 in amazing prizes, from recliners, to beer to
fishing gear.

One minute after Mr. Bisson’s catch, Galen
Trudeau, also of Wiikwemkoong, caught a tagged fish, a rainbow trout weighing
in at 2.86 lbs. The fish may have been small but it packed a mighty punch,
earning Mr. Trudeau $5,000 in cash.

Other prize winners were Tom Cranston with
his early bird draw win of $1,000 and Wiikwemkoong’s Jeanette Pitawanakwat and
her $10,000 registration draw prize.

Talk among the anglers was positive.

“I’m really glad they changed the format,”
said one angler. “Having it over two days makes it worth my while to come here
from North Bay.”

Cody Leeson of Little Current, the
third-place winner for Lake Manitou, was fishing at Sandfield, his first time
ice fishing on the lake. Mr. Leeson admitted that his luck had been poor so far
this year. The biggest fish he’d managed to haul in to date was a four-inch
perch.

While minding the Sandfield weigh-in
station, the volunteers noticed a figure in the distance running as fast as he
could toward shore. As he approached they saw he was handling a fish and holding his snowpants to keep them
from falling down, all while making his mad dash.

“It was quite the sight,” laughed Mr.
Patterson, who helped Mr. Leeson weigh in his one and only catch of the derby,
a 9.33 lb ling that kept him in top spot until Sunday morning.

Interesting catches also brought a speckled
trout into the Sandfield weigh station, a testament to the hard work of
Manitoulin Streams and the children of Manitoulin and their stocking efforts.

On Manitowaning Bay on Sunday, an angler
brought in a salamander to be weighed. Derby officials politely turned him
down.

“He was good natured about it,” Ms. Aiabens
noted.

Organizers will convene in the coming weeks
to go through the derby statistics. Just over 400 tickets were sold.

“Like any new event, there will be growing
pains,” Mr. Wassegijig told The Expositor. “But it can only go up from here.”